I love the part before we start hating each other
by luck7to8
Summary: My life had never been this complicated. But what would you, when your annoying red haired best friend is getting closer to you than he should? And what ist the problem between my twin and Terra? Add a naive Sora and that idiot Riku and you have the mess! Akuroku, Venterra, Soriku
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present, Man Not Caring.**

I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. It was six in the evening and I didn't know what to do. Every normal kid my age would be anywhere but home on a Saturday evening, so why not me? Because I was grounded. And why? I mean, don't we live in a country where everyone has the right to have his own opinion and should be able to express it? And that was all I did. I just told my old math teacher, who was the reason I nearly failed class, that he was an idiot and that I was happy that I finally don't have to bear with him anymore.

Yeah I just told him how I felt. That was all... well, and then I repeated my words on his car. But it was an accident, really. I mean I didn't plan on doing something like that, but I just couldn't help myself. Who could blame me?

Asked and answered: My dad. He was really angry when he found out. I think I'm really getting on his nerves, but hey, not every kid can be perfect. Everyone has made mistakes, have they not? I mean, I am a kid who gets in trouble... very often. When there's a party, I'm there, I drink quite often, I smoke sometimes, I am a member of a gang named 'the Organization'(I know it's a stupid name but I wasn't the one who came up with it) my friends are all idiots, according to my father, and my grades are bad. But other than that I'm a very nice person. But that doesn't seem to count.

So that is the reason I was sitting in my room with _absolutely_ nothing to do. All of my games were confiscated by my father and I was not allowed to use my computer or the TV. My cell phone wasn't with me either, because my dad said that I would only get distracted if I had it with me. So the only things left in my room were some schoolbooks so I could 'learn' for the year to come.

Honestly, what was my father thinking? Did he really expect me to do this? I mean we're in the middle of the holidays, damn it! I barely touched those books when I had school, so why would I look at them now? You see, I'm not to be envied.

I was beginning to doze off; I already felt my eyes closing. But of course there had to be something that prevented me from doing so. And in this case, it wasn't something, but _someone_.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw the most annoying person in the world. But before I could register what was happening I send out a little shriek.

"Aagh! Axel! What the hell are you doing in my room?" I quickly got away from the face before me. That redhead was sitting on my bed and was smirking.

"Woah, woah. You didn't have to shout like that. I didn't mean to frighten you. But you were looking so cute just now."

"I wasn't frightened! And what the heck do you mean with _cute_? Are you trying to hit on me?"

"Well, what if the answer was yes?" He leaned closer. His face was only inches away from mine now.

"Axel. Get the fuck away from me!" I shoved my pillow right into his face.

"Roxy," he pouted after he threw the pillow away. "You don't have to be so mean, I was only kidding, you know."

"Whatever." I looked around in my room and saw that my door was closed. "How did you get in my room anyway?"

"Roxy," he shook his head, "there's something called window, you know."

"And you know what, Ax, there's something called door, too," I sighed.

"The door? It's not like your father would let me in. Besides, I don't really want him to know that I'm here."

"Are you afraid of him or what?" I asked without hiding my smirk. Axel's face was so priceless. Seemed like I hit a soft spot there. "Oh come on, my father isn't that bad."

"I'm not afraid of him. You're imagining things." He looked away.

"Hm, actually my father isn't even here."

Axel lightened up the moment I said those words. "Really now? Why didn't you say that earlier?" He got up from my bed. "Then what are you still doing here, come on let's go and have some fun."

"I can't." I simply shook my head.

"Why's that?"

"Because I'm grounded."

"... So why aren't we going then?"

"Axel, you know what the meaning of being grounded is, right?"

"And since when do you know it? It has never bothered you before. You would still go. And this time your father isn't even around." He looked at me, confusion present in his eyes.

"Even if dad isn't here that does not mean I'm alone. Leon is here."

"Well if it's only Leon, what's the matter then?"

"What do you mean 'only Leon'?" Axel and me both looked at the now open door, only to see a very annoyed looking Leon leaning on the doorframe.

"Oh, hello Leon. What's up?" Axel asked innocently.

The scarred brown haired 'best friend' of my father only raised an eyebrow. "What the hell are you doing here, Axel? First off, Roxas isn't allowed to meet friends right now, and second how many times have we already told you not to come in through the window!"

"Hehe," Axel said while scratching his head, "I just wanted to see Roxas again. I mean, it's summer vacation and everyone is enjoying it except Roxas who is stuck at home!"

How true those words were. I really hated being home all day and it would have been relaxing to spend the day with Axel. But I also knew that there was no use in having this conversation, because my father was as cold as ice when it came to his rules. And Leon was always on my father's side when it was about these things.

"It's Roxas' own fault for getting in trouble again. And this is his punishment, so he has to live with that." I sighed. As you can see, Leon was taking his best friend's side again.

"Why are you grounded anyway?" Axel asked, who was now looking at me again.

"You know that car thing I pulled."

"But that was last month, was it not? Shouldn't your punishment be over for that already?"

"Nope," I stated firmly, annoyed. "My dad said I would be grounded for 2 months, and because he really had been pissed off, he is determined to pull through with it."

Unfortunately, Leon noticed my annoyed tone. "Can you blame him for that? Roxas, you really are troublesome, you can't deny it."

I rolled my eyes. _Troublesome._ How I hated that word.

Leon turned towards Axel again. "For your information, these 2 months have been shortened anyway. Today is the last day of his punishment."

"Why's that?" Axel asked, "You just said your father wanted to pull it through."

I looked at him. "Didn't I tell you? Today my brothers are coming over. My dad said that I should help them get used to their new environment or something like that. And that isn't going to happen if I'm grounded."

He stared at me. He was obviously confused. "Since when do you have brothers?"

"Looks like you didn't tell him," Leon said, amused.

I rolled my eyes. "To answer your question Ax, I've always had brothers. And today is the day when they will come here and start living with us. That's the reason my father isn't home. He's on his way to get them."

Axel looked thoughtful for a moment. I'm sure he tried to process the new gained information. "So you have brothers, you never even mentioned and they are coming to live with you."

"Yes, that's what I said."

"That's... cool. I never would have guessed you had brothers. How many are there? Are they younger or older than you? Are they just like you, because that would be hilarious-"

"Man, Axel you seem to be more excited about that than me." I sighed. Axel was really annoying. And now you see why. When he is excited about something he just can't shut up. But I didn't want to ruin his mood so I answered his questions.

"I have two brothers, Sora and Ventus and they both aren't like me. At least not anymore. They are more... decent and well-behaved, I guess. Sora is one year younger than me and Ventus is older by 20 minutes or so."

"20 minutes? Are you saying he is your..."

"Yeah, Axel, Ventus is Roxas twin brother," came the reply from Leon who, by the way still looked very pissed off. "So you have all your answers, I think you can go-"

"Twin? You have a twin brother? So there is another Roxas walking on earth?"

"It's not like he is my clone, Axel. And it's no big deal, anyway."

"No big deal? Didn't you just say they are coming to live with you? Wait, why are they even coming to live with you? Why weren't there here from the very beginning?"

"I told you my parents got divorced and after that me and my dad moved here, right?" He nodded. "My brothers stayed with my mom in our home town, which is very far away from here. But now my mother has to go abroad for at least one year and she can't take Sora and Ven with her. So they will be staying here for the time being."

Axel stared at me with amazement, but before he could pull another comment on how great and cool this was, Leon cut in. "Axel, I'm happy you are so enthusiastic about this, but I want to remind you that your presence is still not tolerated here. So if you could just leave, while I'm still patient with you?"

The redhead stared at Leon before he muttered something about Leon being no fun or whatsoever. "Well you know, Leon, I think I am not to be blamed when I just want to visit my friend. That's what friends are here for, is it not?" He slung his arm around me. How did that guy get behind me? I'll never understand how he does it.

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, but most of Roxas' 'friends' are just little idiots." I wanted to respond to this but Leon continued before I could say anything. "But I have to admit that from all of Roxas' friends, you are one of the more decent ones."

Axel seemed to be satisfied by this answer. "Good that you realized that too."

"... But I still want you to leave."

"I guess I knew that you would say that. Okay then I shall take my leave." He was at the window in less than a second. "Bye Leon, bye shortie. You won't have to miss me, because I will definitely come back tomorrow. I want to see these Strife brothers, you know." And before I could shout at him for calling me shortie and Leon could shout at him to not use the window as an exit, he was long gone.

Leon rubbed his eyes. After a few minutes he looked at me. "Your father will be home late tonight," he said.

"I know. That is why you are here; so you can keep an eye on me, you don't have to repeat it again."

"Yeah, but my father called me just now. He is in the hospital, so I have to go visit him."

"Why is he in the hospital?"

"Well, apparently while taking a walk in the forest he somehow fell and rolled down a hill right into a lake. He has several bruises and cuts and his leg is broken."

"And why did he fall?"

"He saw a woman."

"And?"

"Well...he had a... leg cramp."

"... Your father is weird."

"I know. But because of this I have to go now and your dad will not be home until midnight. So you will be alone for about six hours. And I want you to behave. You will not leave the house and you will not invite any of your stupid friends. You will spend the next six hours alone in your room. Are we clear?"

"Why do you assume that I'll cause trouble? Don't you trust me?"

"Well as a matter of fact, no. So promise me to behave."

"Fine." He looked at me with a serious face. But I already lay down on my bed. "I will take a nap 'til he comes."

"Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow." With that he left my room. I really wanted to take a nap. I didn't want to get in trouble again. But it's really hard to resist...

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I finally reuploaded the story :D

I want to thank my beta reader CutePiglet for betareading :)


	2. Chapter 2

Hello here's the second chapter :) Special thanks to my betareader CutePiglet and TheAnnoyingVoice (Thanks for the review:) )

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**Chapter 2**

**We didn't order any of the pain in the ass**

I looked out of the window as we were driving in the middle of the night on a lonely road. My little brother had fallen asleep on my lap. No wonder he was tired, we had been driving for 5 hours now.

It wouldn't take long before we would reach our new home. A little village called Twilight Town. I only had been there a few times; my little brother, my mother and I would visit our dad and my twin brother every now and then.

My parents got divorced a few years ago, that's why we lived in different places. I had lived on Destiny Island alongside Sora and my mom.

But everything had changed now. My mom is going to America because of her job for at least one year. One year! She just leaves my brother and me alone. Okay, not all alone...

But maybe, I should first introduce myself. My name is Ventus and I'm 16 years old. There's not much to say about me, only that I'm bored to death right now and very pissed off. I mean who would not be? Firstly, I have to move to my dad because of my mother and leave everything behind. Secondly, I've been in this car for about 5 hours already. To sit in car for 5 hours is not funny at all! But unlike my brother, I just couldn't sleep. I hoped I could though. But I had other things on my mind right now. Like my life changing completely.

"Are you alright over there?" I looked up.

"Yeah, sure," I replied.

"I know it has been a hard time for you, but I want you to know that you can always talk to me about everything," my father said with a concerned look on his face. I must have looked really depressed if my father Cloud Strife shows that much emotion. Normally, my father is the type of guy who is very calm and emotionless.

"Yeah, I know that. You don't have to worry about me, I'm fine," I lied. Nothing was fine, but there was no need to worry my dad.

The only positive thing about this situation was that I would finally be reunited with my twin brother, Roxas. Ever since we were born we had been inseparable. We did everything together. When my parents got divorced my mother planned to take all her children with her, but Roxas didn't want to. He wanted to stay with our dad, even if that meant for us to separate. I didn't blame him, though. I understood him quite well. But that was the reason why he lived that far away. The last time I saw him was what, a year ago? But that would change now. I really looked forward to seeing him and living with him again.

"It's very rare to see you so lost in your thoughts."

I looked down. "Hey, Sora. You're awake?"

"Yeah, how long was I asleep for? Are we there yet?" he asked with a yawn.

"You slept for almost 3 hours and no we aren't in Twilight Town yet," I said.

"Man, what's taking so long? I can't take it anymore!"

"Calm down," my father said, "we're almost there."

And like my father had said, after 20 minutes we finally reached our destination. As it was in the middle of the night, we decided to leave our baggage in the car and to take care of it tomorrow.

The house wasn't small, but it wasn't that big, either. I looked around. It had a nice garden with beautiful flowers. My father loved taking care of his flowers. I totally forgot about that. A feeling of nostalgia entered me when we entered the house. Everything in it reminded me of my father. It was the small things like gray and black furniture or the simple blue carpet in the living room. My mom loved bright colors and everything in the house had to match up. But my father was simpler and his house mirrored this. This house had a complete different atmosphere than our house back on Destiny Island. It wasn't bad, just… different.

That would be my home for the next year. Somehow I couldn't get used to that thought. As much as I loved my father, I wanted to go back to my real home, but I knew that it was impossible right now. We had no relatives nearby. My mum could have just left us with some friends, but she thought that this was a good chance for us to be with our father and brother again. Stupid ideas of my stupid mother!

…But I had to admit that she had a point.

My dad showed us our rooms. They were mostly empty, but that would change soon when we would bring our whole stuff into them. However, I was more interested in the 3rd room on this floor.

"Is that Roxas' room?" I asked.

My father nodded. I decided to go in and wake him up. Hadn't he heard that we had arrived? I slowly opened the door. The whole room was a mess. Clothes were lying everywhere. I couldn't hold back a slight chuckle. Roxas hadn't changed at all. But I was used to such mess. I live with Sora after all.

"Roxas? Are you awake?"

No answer. I slowly walked to his bed.

"Oh man and you tell me my room's messy," Sora said, who was standing in the doorway now.

I looked at him. "Sora, your room is as untidy as his. You don't have to compete for it. Come on, we have to wake the sleepy head up!"

At first Sora had started to pout at my first comment, but now we were both approaching our brother's bed.

"Roxas?" I asked again. Still no answer.

I was at his bed first. And then I saw the reason for his lack of response: Nobody was in the bed. Did he go to the bathroom? No we would have seen him then. Where the hell was that guy?

"What the..." my father walked in. "Didn't I tell the boy to tidy up his room?"

"Well, looks like he didn't," Sora said.

"Well, I can see that too."

Upon seeing our confused faces he looked at Roxas' bed, too. When he realized that it was empty, he immediately went into anger mode. "This boy is so dead…"

"Dad, where's Roxas?" Sora asked with a worried look.

My father looked at him. When he saw the worried face of my brother he tried to calm him down.

"You don't have to worry, Sora. That's not the first time Roxas disappears in the middle of the night, he's probably just with his useless friends again." He said in a bitter tone.

What did he mean with 'disappearing in the middle of the night'? Roxas just leaves like that?

"Wait, why would Roxas do that?" I asked.

"Well, why do teenagers do that? To piss their parents off, of course. I think that boy has it made his personal duty to make my life miserable..."

But before my dad could rant more about ungrateful children and their stupidity, a loud _crack_ came from the kitchen, like something was broken. We all rushed there. At first we didn't see anything because it was dark, but then my father switched on the light.

Three men were standing in the kitchen and a broken beer bottle was lying on the floor. The men didn't seem to have noticed us.

I looked at them more closely. There was a very tall one with brown hair and one with long silver hair. The last one was smaller compared to the other two. He was about the same height as me. His clothes were black, his hair was messy…

No. This can't be. This isn't Roxas. This boy over there looked similar to my Roxas. But my Roxas looked like … well me. This boy looked like a punk. I definitely don't look like a punk. He had earrings and… was that mascara on his eyes?

"Roxas, where have you been?!" my dad shouted.

Okay. So this really _was_ Roxas.

"Hi, dad," Roxas said slurring his words.

"Hi, dad? Is that everything you have to say?"

Roxas seemed to think for a moment. What the heck was wrong with him?

"Well, yeah," Roxas answered. He had a huge grin on his face. That was when I realized what was wrong. Roxas was drunk, totally drunk.

"Oh, Roxas. Why are you giving me such a hard time?" My dad was getting furious.

"Calm down, Cloud. You don't have to be so angry. He came home safe, didn't he?" the boy with the brown hair said and merely shrugged his shoulders like nothing was wrong. That of course pissed my father off even more. And I can assure you, an angry Cloud is not a Cloud you would want to deal with. But that guy was either oblivious to my father's growing fury or he simply didn't care. He had guts to say the least.

"I mean, we only had some fun together." I didn't like how he pronounced the word fun. I couldn't shake the feeling that there wasn't only drinking involved.

"We were even kind enough to bring him back to you. I mean, we could have left him there on the street. Aren't we nice? Right, Roxas?" The brown haired boy put his hand on Roxas' shoulder.

"Don't touch him!" I ran towards Roxas and swatted at the hand of the other boy. My older brother instincts kicked in. I had only known the guy for about five minutes and he was already on my shit list.

Roxas looked at me. "Ven?" he asked with a confused expression. I looked at him and sighed, he certainly was drunk.

"Yeah it's me."

He smiled and then snuggled against me. That was the Roxas I remembered. Cute and innocent. I looked up and glared at the guy from before. He looked at me puzzled. Like I was a ghost or something. Then he looked at his silver haired friend.

"Riku, is it just me or do I really see two Roxas' in front of me?"

The guy he called Riku had a confused expression on his face, too. "Well Terra, I guess we had too much alcohol. Or this is Roxas' long lost twin brother, or something." Then he grinned-I didn't like that grin one bit.

"But imagine that. Twins..."

Okay, this guy was pissing me off, too.

"Yes you're right I am Roxas twin brother, idiot!"

"Looks like our dreams have come true", this Terra guy said.

Did I hear right? Were they suggesting what I thought they were?

"You're an asshole!"

"Thank you."

Suddenly Sora rushed to my side.

"Is he all right?" He pointed at Roxas, which made me look at my twin too.

"You don't have to worry. Looks like he has just fallen asleep."

It was a mystery to me, how he could sleep in the middle of a conversation. The mysteries of too much alcohol consume...

"Oh, man," the silver haired guy came closer, "I can't believe it. Roxas really has cute brothers."

He stared at Sora with a sly grin. Sora immediately blushed and looked away.

Did these guys try to pick a fight with me? First Roxas and now Sora. I was getting furious. But before I could tell them to back off, my father chimed in.

"You two. How many times do I have to tell you? You will stay away from Roxas. And that means from my other sons as well."

"Don't be like that, Cloud," Terra said, "It's not our fault your sons look so... well..." He looked my way, "...cute."

I couldn't believe that guy. Did he just call me cute? Nobody has ever called me cute. I'm not cute, not at all. And why do I even care what that idiot says? I looked at my dad.

"Hey boys, what has two thumbs and doesn't give a crap? Cloud Strife. How ya doin'. And now you two will use these things called legs and get out of my house and that's final."

"You're no fun."

They made a fake hurt expression, but decided to leave it at that. Certainly they didn't want to make my father angrier than he already was. So the two boys started to get moving. Before they left though, Terra turned around once more and he looked at me.

"I mean it. You're even cuter than Roxas. Maybe you can visit me and we'll have some fun together…"

Idiot. Asshole. Moron. I could continue that list forever. But all I could say was:

"No thanks." Somehow the words left me. And I think he noticed, too because he smirked. How I wanted to wipe that smirk out of his face.

"We'll see…" And with that the two friends vanished.

"Who were they?" Sora asked.

"Useless friends," my father answered. Then he looked at Roxas and me. "We'd better bring him to bed. I will scold him tomorrow."

I glanced at my identical twin. At this moment I swore to myself that I would protect him from such friends. No matter what. And such an idiot like this Terra would not get in my way. I was certain of that.

Well, later I realized that this was easier said than done…


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry, it took so long. I hope you enjoy reading :)

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**Chapter 3**

**Well isn't that just the pickle on the giant crap sandwich that is my day.**

When I woke up the next morning I had a horrible headache. It was already 12 in the afternoon. Why did I sleep this long? Hadn't I gone to bed early the day before? I tried to remember. Dad left me alone with Leon because he had to get my brothers. Then Leon had to go because his father had an accident. I was alone...

Yeah, after that I tried to take a nap. Well, looks like I didn't succeed in doing that. I went to a party and did what you normally do at a party. But had I really drunk that much? I had planned to be home before Dad and my brothers would be there. Damn Marluxia and his special drink. Who knows what had actually been in it? But what happened after that? Okay, I somehow must have gotten back, but I couldn't remember how. I tried to remember, but my head was aching. And as if on cue to make my headache worse, the door suddenly burst open and a boy with messy brown hair stood in my doorway.

"Roxas!" he cried and before I could say something he jumped on my bed and hugged me.

"Sora! It's okay, you're choking me. And don't be so loud, please." He loosened his grip on me, but only a little. I held my head and looked up at the intruder. Sora hadn't changed much, but he looked older and more mature than I remembered him. Only now I realized how long I hadn't seen my brother. I really had missed him.

"How are you? You really got us all worried last night, you know. Don't do that again!"

What? What was he talking about? What happened last night? Hopefully it wasn't something that would get me in trouble. But I already knew from experience that my wishes and hopes always get crushed.

"What happened last night?" I dared to ask the brown haired boy in front of me.

"You were totally drunk." Shit, and my brother saw it. Believe me or not I really wanted to make a good 'first' impression on my brothers. Since the divorce of my parents we didn't see each other that often anymore. But now wasn't the time to think about that. I had to analyze if I was in deep shit or in deep deep shit. And this depended on one thing.

"Did Dad see me like this?"

"Yes. And Ven too."

Of course dad had seen me. He always sees everything. Damn! But maybe he will go easy on me because my brothers are here. I mean, he wanted me to show them around town and keep them company. And this will not work if he grounds me again, right? And another punishment he can't give me. Yeah, I only have to make a plan how to convince him that-

"Who were the two boys, who were with you?"

Sora's question caught me off guard. Two boys? That was bad. If they were the kind of boys my father doesn't like, there would be no way my father would show mercy. Okay, my father doesn't like any of my friends, but there are some he really despises. And if one of these was in our house with me, then I'm for it. That's for sure. Damn blackout, why can't I remember?

"Which boys?" I had to know so that I could prepare my excuses. Sora looked at me, puzzled.

"You don't remember? How come?"

"Just tell me who they were, okay little bro?"

"Fine. One of them had short brown hair; I think his name was Telo, Tela? I don't know-"

"You mean Terra?"

"Terra, exactly. That was his name!"

Terra, huh? My dad doesn't know him that well. I don't think he would be angry because of him. But there was still one left.

"What about the other one?" I asked.

After I said that, something weird happened. Sora blushed. Why did he blush? I didn't know why, but what I could tell was that I didn't like it at all.

"H-he had long silver hair and g-green eyes. His name was... Riku," he said with a dreamy tone in his voice. He seemed to be happy thinking about him.

I was not. Riku? That couldn't be true. I only had to hear his name and I could feel my headache become much worse. Why was he with me last night? I must have been really drunk, because there is no way I would hang out with that guy if I was sober. That guy is an idiot. I mean a real idiot and an asshole and-

"What is it Roxas, why are you looking so angry?" Sora's question brought me back to reality.

"What, I'm not angry." I don't think he believed me, but I had other things to care about. But even though I didn't like to admit it, it was good that it were only Terra and Riku. That wouldn't cause more problems than I already had.

"So where is Ven?" I wanted to change the subject before Sora could ask more questions about last night.

"I think he's already up. Come on let's go downstairs, dad made breakfast." He stood up and beckoned me to follow him. I wasn't as enthusiastic like he was. But I already made my plan how to escape my punishment. We went downstairs. My father was nowhere to be seen, but my twin was at the table. He hadn't noticed us coming in. When I saw him, something happened to me. Like a long lost piece of me was finally there again. I couldn't help but smile, all my other problems forgotten at the moment.

"Ven! Look who's here!" Sora cried. I had to cover my ears. I almost forgot what a bundle of energy my brother was.

"Roxas!" Ven said, before he jumped me and we almost fell. I don't know how long we stood there hugging each other. We only stopped when Sora cleared his throat and we looked up at him and then at each other again.

"Oh, Roxas, I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"You were totally drunk last night. You just fell asleep in my arms!"

Oh, right. Ventus was there too. And I still couldn't remember what happened...

"You don't have to worry about me, I'm perfectly fine," I said while scratching my head sheepishly.

"Yeah, I saw how perfectly 'fine' you were yesterday. After such a long time, we finally meet again, but my brother is too drunk to even register that I'm there. And on top of that, you bring two idiots with you who really piss me off. Do you know how worried I was?"

"Calm down, Ven. I know this wasn't a good start, but I think we have to make the best of it."

I didn't want to talk about yesterday anymore and I didn't want Ven to worry this much.

"And I have a good idea! I will show you around town today. We will make today a brothers' day. How does this sound?"

I wanted this year to become a success. I didn't think we would have another chance to be this close again. That's why I wanted today to be brothers' day. I admit this was also a part of my 'how-to-escape-my-punishment-plan', but of course my brothers were important to me, too.

"That is a good idea! Only you, Ven and me, this will be a great day!"

Sora looked very happy, but Ven still had a skeptical look on his face. I'm pretty sure he was still thinking about yesterday's events.

"Come on, Ven. Today we will have a lot of fun, you will see!"

"Fine. But don't think I forgot about last night. I will keep an eye on you," he said like he was joking, but I knew he was serious.

"Oh, I didn't know you were my babysitter. But, fine, I shall try to behave."

"Stop talking like that," Ven said amused. Sora began laughing and soon we all were laughing. I think we were all just happy to be together again. The tree Strife brothers reunited.

"I'm happy you seem to be having, but I think you know that you're in deep trouble."

We all turned around to see our father leaning on the doorframe. He looked at me with an angry look.

"You know, I really thought this time you would actually do what you were told!"

"I'm sorry. It was an... accident."

"So you're telling me you _accidentally_ left the house even though you were told not to and you _accidentally_ got yourself drunk. Can't you come up with some better excuses?"

"All right, fine I know I shouldn't have done it. And I'm really sorry, dad."

"I hope you are. But even if you're not you will have plenty of time to think of what you've done, because you're grounded."

"No, you can't do that," I said with a calm voice.

He looked at me suspiciously before he asked, "And why not?"

"Because my brothers and me will spend the day together, and this won't work if I'm grounded."

"Yeah, he's right, dad. He wants to show us around town. This will be really fun!" Sora had this huge smile on his face. Nobody was able to resist his smile, especially not my dad. I could see his determination waver. He looked at Ventus, but he only shrugged.

I tried to hide my smirk. By the way he looked at me, I could tell he knew I was right. He didn't respond right away. He probably thought of another way to punish me. He already confiscated every game I had, my cell phone and other things, which I would care about. He couldn't give me any other punishment except for grounding me. But I knew for the sake of his other sons he wouldn't do that. So I had won.

"Good. This time I will forgive you, if you promise me that something like this won't happen again."

"Of course something like this won't happen again." Everyone looked at Ventus. Ven looked at me. That was my twin, always so protective. My father smiled, before he looked at me again.

"So Roxas, you want to say something, too?"

"Yeah, I promise," I said while waving dismissively. I could tell my father wasn't satisfied by this answer at all but he didn't question me further.

"So can we now stop the talking? I'm hungry!" Sora shouted and immediately took his seat at the table.

"Sora, is food everything you can think about?" Ven shook his head. I could only laugh. Sora and food, two inseparable things.

We all took our seats at the table. My father had made pancakes. It was a rare sight to actually eat something my father made, because normally Leon would cook for us.

"By the way Roxas, where is Leon?" my father asked. Speak of the devil. "He should have been with you yesterday."

"His father was in an accident and so Leon had to go to the hospital."

"An accident? I hope it is nothing serious."

"No, it's not. He somehow broke his leg because he had a leg cramp."

My father shook his head. He muttered something along the lines of 'that Laguna'.

"Who is that Leon?" Sora wanted to know.

"He's dad's-" I was cut off by my father.

"Leon is my best friend." I rolled my eyes at that and Ventus caught it, but didn't say anything. So we had our breakfast and told each other stories from our childhood and we laughed a lot. This was the real start...

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Special thanks to my beta reader :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**What is it with steel wool? Is it steel? Or is it wool?**

Our first tour in Twilight Town. I had to admit it was a nice little village. Very different from Destiny Islands, but still nice. Roxas was showing us every place he liked. Right now we were at an ice-cream parlor. My twin treated Sora and me to a special ice cream that only existed in this village. I was eager to know what he meant and Sora was, too. When he came out, he had ice creams with him. What a surprise.

"What, that's all and I thought it would be more...special."

"Don't worry; this will be something you'll never forget." He handed us our ice creams. And of course Sora immediately began to eat it. I swear, that guy wastes about half of his day on food. Sometimes I wonder why he hasn't gotten fat yet.

"It's salty, but sweet at the same time. Tastes good!" he said with his trademark grin.

Salty? I wasn't a fan of salty. And this was ice cream. I looked at Roxas. But he gave me a reassuring smile. So I tried it.

"Well, it isn't that bad."

"That's all you have to say? Come on, I know you love it."

"And why's that?"

"Because we're twins."

I wanted to say something. But the fact that I had spent so much time without my twin came crushing down to me at that moment. So I said nothing at first.

"What is it, Ven?" Sora mumbled with his mouth full.

Before I could respond to him, Roxas came and pinched my cheek. "It's nothing, Sora. He only wanted to get sentimental. But you know it's not necessary, the only thing that matters now, is that we are together. So we should continue and have some fun!"

I had to smile. Damn twin connection. He knew exactly what I was feeling.

"Let's get going, then." We continued our tour but not before I had punched Roxas in the arm for being such a smartass. I didn't have to explain, he knew why I'd done it.

Some time later I was looking at a poster, not realizing that my brothers had kept walking. The poster was about a 'struggle tournament' whatever that was. Some weird thing they have in Twilight Town. I made a mental note to tease Roxas about it later, when something, or better _someone_ was grabbing me from behind. I was too shocked at first, to do something.

"You shouldn't be spacing out like this; some creep could come onto you..." To emphasize his point the guy began touching my chest, in a way too imitate manner. This was when I snapped. I shoved him. Hard. But what would you do when some weirdo started touching you and kept talking nonsense? So I didn't feel any regret when the guy fell in a muddy puddle, all the while cursing out loud. To say I was angry would be an underestimation. I was _furious_.

"What the hell has gotten into you, man?" he said while standing up, still cursing like mad.

He asked what has gotten into _me_? I wasn't the one molesting some random stranger. But I tried to calm down and looked at him more closely. The guy was tall and a little skinny. But what was most eye-catching about him, was his red hair. I swear I never saw someone with such fiery red hair. Oh, and he had some weird tear shaped tattoo on his face...

"Will you stop glaring at me, I'm not Riku y'know." He had a look of utter confusion on him. But he wasn't the only one. I was confused, too. Why did he talk to me like he knew me and who the hell was Riku? I think I've heard the name somewhere before.

The guy came closer to me, I took a step back. "Don't come any closer," I said in a steady voice. I wasn't going to be intimidated by that creep.

"You look kind of different today..." He was only inches away from me now. Just as I was about to kick his shin, thinking of why Twilight Town seemed to be a meeting point of idiots and how Destiny Island was _much_ better than this place, a voice interrupted me from doing so.

"Axel, what the hell are you doing? Get away from him. Now."

The one shouting was none other than my twin. He stood there with his arms crossed, Sora right beside him. The guy in front of me, which I assumed was Axel, turned around.

At the sight of Roxas he frowned. He looked at him for a moment, before he shifted his gaze to me. After a few seconds of staring I had had enough. I shoved him out of the way and walked over to where my brothers stood.

The man looked at us puzzled, but then it seemed to make sense and he grinned wildly at my brother.

"Now I understand. That aggressive boy is your twin, Roxy. And I assumed that you've finally gone mad. Wouldn't be a surprise though, with your alcohol consume..."

"Shut up Ax, I'm not drinking that much..."

The red head looked at him skeptically. I didn't like that. Was my twin really that bad? My older brother instinct kicked in again. I really should keep an eye on Roxas…

"Well, I think I should introduce myself properly. The name's Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"

Axel said while pointing his finger at his head as to make sure we really understood him. I glanced at Rox, who was rolling his eyes at the statement of his friend.

"Hello, my name is Sora," my little brother said cheerfully.

Typical of Sora to be this excited when it came to meeting new people. He could befriend someone in less than five minutes. He got along with everyone back on Destiny Islands. As much as I like my brother, his naivety got him in trouble more than once. Take that one time, when a guy with long hair and eye patch had problems with his motorcycle and tried to repair it. That guy looked like some dangerous criminal, and nobody got near him even though he obviously needed help with his motorbike. Did I say nobody, I mean nobody except my dear little brother. He went to that creep and asked if he could help him. Not that Sora had the slightest clue about motorcycles.

By the way he was looking Sora up and down with that grin on his face you could tell that the man was up to no good. He told Sora that there was something in the hotel he was currently living in that he needed to get. If Sora could help him with it, he would be very glad. Even a small child could tell that this guy was bad news and a teenager would also be able to tell, yeah he only wants to get into your pants. So it was obvious what a normal teen would do. And my little brother, as much as I love him, does not fit in the category 'normal.' So yeah, he joyfully agreed and was about to actually go with that bastard. If it weren't for Tidus and Wakka, who coincidentally strolled by and managed to get Sora away, this day wouldn't have had a happy ending.

So yeah, I was comparing this redhead to the eye patch guy. So what? Everyone only seems to want to get into my brothers' pants, I swear. Okay, maybe I was a little bit paranoid. But who wouldn't be with such a dense brother as Sora. And now I could add a troublesome Roxas to the list. My life isn't easy.

"Hi Sora," Axel grinned widely. I glared at him. "And that aggressive one over there must be the twin."

"Who the hell are you calling aggressive? What would you do if some stranger would come onto you like that?" I glared at him more intensely. He just looked at me, amused, which made me, if it were possible, even more pissed off.

"Come on Ven, you could me a bit nicer to him. He's Roxas' friend after all." Sora smiled at Axel. How I hated that smile sometimes.

"I like your little brother, Rox, but your twin should loosen up a bit." Roxas just shrugged. He was going to respond, but I cut him off.

"Well, I have already met some of my brother's friends. And I hate to admit it, but my brother seems to have made poor choices regarding his choice of friends."

"Oh, come on Ven you sound just like dad," he said while scratching his head, "and these guys weren't that close friends of mine-"

"Which friends is he talking about?" Axel cut in, looking confused. "I thought you weren't allowed to invite friends over?"

"I didn't invite them over. If I have to be honest, I don't know why they were there..."

I looked at him stunned. He didn't know. But he was so drunk, no wonder he couldn't remember anything. Seriously I have only been here for a few hours actually and my brother was giving me one hell of a headache.

"I think they brought you home from a party or something," Sora said, still cheery. Wasn't he as concerned as I was? But hey, it's Sora were talking about. The guy who is the living personification of the phrase 'Don't worry, be happy'.

"A party? Come on, Roxas when I told you to come with me, you refused. I thought you wanted to obey your father for once?"

"I know, but after Leon was gone and I was all alone, I got bored."

"And then you decided that you would go, get wasted, come home with some jerks to greet your long awaited brothers. Well, that was a good plan. You really made the five hour drive worth it." I think he felt that I was a littlbe bit angry about last night.

But really, there is no reason to worry that much. He won't do it again. I will make sure of that.

Roxas looked at me sheepishly. "I didn't plan on getting drunk or get home that late. It just happened. There was good music and booze. I just couldn't resist."

I glared at him. "That's a lame excuse."

Suddenly I remembered what the brown haired idiot from last night had said. Something about only having 'fun'. "Was alcohol the only thing you couldn't resist?"

He looked at me, startled. From the corner of my eyes I could see that I had the eyes of Sora and Axel on me as well.

"What do you mean?" Rox asked me.

"I was only thinking about how that brown haired bastard from yesterday talked about you."

Unwillingly I had to think about him. Such an arrogant asshole. He certainly was after my brother. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. Roxas on the other hand didn't seem bothered at all.

"I don't know what he said, but I know that you shouldn't take it seriously. You gotta chill a little bit, Ven." He smiled at me, I glared.

"Who exactly is he talking about, Rox?" My brother shifted his gaze to Axel, who decided to ruin the staring contest between my lovely twin and me with a question.

"From what Sora told me it must have been Terra," my brother said with a shrug of his shoulders, which meant something like: Yeah, I know I was so busted that I don't even know who I'd hang out with, but yeah, I couldn't care less. Sometimes I hated him.

"Terra?" Axel asked disbelievingly, "You mean the brother of Xemnas? I didn't even know you two were friends." Something in his eyes changed. If you'd asked me, I wouldn't be able to tell you, but something was definitely different. But Roxas didn't seem to have noticed anything. So I just let that thought pass.

"Ax, you know I'm friends with everyone and everything." He reminded me of Sora when he said this. Was I the only normal one in my family?

Axel grinned again. "With 'everyone and everything' he says. I think I gotta call Riku and tell him the great news." Roxas face faltered that instant and if looks could kill, Axel would have been dead the moment he took out his cell phone, still grinning wildly.

"Don't. You. Dare." Axel couldn't hold his laughter after that.

"You should have seen your face man," he said between his laughter, "Priceless!"

I think Roxas attempted to punch him, and I also think Axel was prepared for it. But it never came to this because of one innocent question from an innocent little brother.

"Wasn't Riku the one who, along with that Terra, brought you home yesterday?"

Roxas winced. "Why do you have to remind me of that?"

I think Sora didn't understand what was wrong. If I was going to be honest, I didn't understand it either. But a certain redhead interrupted my train of thoughts.

"You hung out with Riku, out of all people? How drunk have you been, man?"

"I didn't think that it was that much, but it looks like I can even surprise myself."

"I don't understand," Sora said, "what's so bad about that Riku?" I wondered why the hell Sora cared, he should be happy that one of the idiots from yesterday wasn't a member of Roxas' circle of so called 'friends.' But I figured I was giving this too much thought. Or so I hoped...

"Sora, Sora, Sora," Axel said walking over to Sora and slinging his arm around him. "There are things in the world that simply go together. Like fries and ketchup, or like a shining sun and the beach. And there are things that definitively don't go together, which to be honest hurts to see when they are. Like socks in sandals or to get back to your initial question; Roxas and Riku. You were just lucky; you got to see how alcohol can solve even the deepest problems. At least temporary, that is."

Sora looked at Axel than at Roxas. "So you don't like each other?"

Roxas just shook his head and Axel snickered.

"I like you Sora," he said to my brother before he looked at me, "And I think it'll be fun to tease the twin."

I rolled my eyes. "For your information, you don't have to label me as 'the twin'. It's Ventus for you."

"I thought it was Ven?"

"Not for you."

"You could be a bit nicer to your brother's best friend?" he said faking a hurt expression.

"Whatever. Roxas, I think we should head home. It's getting late."

"Fine. Hey Axel, want to come over?"

"Well, you know, I think you definitively pissed off your father because of what you did yesterday. And an angry Cloud is a Cloud I don't want to deal with."

Roxas smirked. "Still afraid of dad?"

"No, I'm just smart enough to know when to cross his path and when not to. That has nothing to do with being scared. Really. And... Can you wipe that stupid ass grin off your face?"

"Nope. Well then, I'll call you when my dad is not around."

So Axel was afraid of my father. This was clearly something I had to keep in mind.

After we said our goodbyes we started walking home. I looked back at him, just a second, but it was enough to see Axel's expression. It was an expression I wasn't going to forget that easily, it was a certain expression I couldn't place at that time. I had a slight idea though.

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So, what do you think? It might take a while until I can upload Chapter 5, because I have exams at school right now :( But I try too update as soon as possible :) Reviews are always welcome :D


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for the reviews :)

Unfortunately, this chapter hasn't been betad, yet. But I thought I'll upload it anyway, so I don't keep you waiting. :)

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Either this kid has a lightbulb up his butt or his colon has a great idea.**

I liked Twilight Town. It was a nice little village. You couldn't compare it with Destiny Islands of course. But the sunset here was wonderful. I have never seen such an intense red color before. We were up the huge clock tower, when we watched it. It was a nice view. Then we decided to call it a day and return home. Although it still feels a little bit odd calling it home. But I think it will work out just fine. It'll be like the old times. Only Ven, Roxas and me. And dad of course, but without mom. It makes me sad that we won't see each other for at least one year. But it's a great opportunity for her. And for us too.

"Sora stop spacing out." I looked around, surprised by the sudden interruption of my thoughts.

Roxas and Ven grinned at me. The same face, the same grin. Well, do you know what it's like to be the little brother of twins? I swear they have this weird connection. They know what the other is thinking only by looking at each other. You as the little brother always feel a little bit left out.

"I wasn't spacing out. I was only thinking about the year to come. I know it will be great!"

Luckily I'm used to their twin mind, although I hadn't had to bear with it the last four years, at least not that often. It doesn't bother me. You know what they say about me? I was always told that my smile was contagious. When I smiled everyone else seemed to smile too. That is what I was told and I think some part of it is true, because now that I was all smiles my brothers also smiled. Unfortunately, our brotherly moment was interrupted by my father who at that moment was walking out of the door.

"Do you want to come in or what?"

"We were about to go in," Roxas answered. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Cid called. They need some help at the bar. There are some leftovers in the fridge. Take care of yourselves and don't do anything stupid." His last sentence was directed at Roxas. The latter only made a face and rolled his eyes. Dad left it at that and said goodbye.

We went inside and prepared dinner for ourselves. After spending half of the day looking around in Twilight Town I was starving. If you asked Ven I was always starving, though. He always told me if I continued eating so much I would become fat eventually and never get a girlfriend. But who needs a girlfriend if that means living a life without my favorite dishes and sweets. If I ever had to choose between food and a girlfriend, I'd choose the food. I'm not joking, I mean it.

"So what are we doing now?" Ven asked after we finished eating.

"We could watch a movie," Roxas suggested.

"Which movie do you want to watch?"

"I want to watch the Lion King," I announced. Roxas looked at me amused.

"You're still watching Disney movies? How old are you again?"

"You can never be too old to watch good old Disney," I said with my hands folded behind my head. Roxas began to laugh.

"You're exactly the same, you know? I think there are some things that will never change."

I grinned. "It's settled then. Let's watch the Lion King."

Ven groaned. "Sora, you may have convinced Roxas. But he didn't have to watch it as often as I did. That means we're watching something different."

"No fair. Since when do you decide everything?"

"I'm the oldest."

"Hey", Roxas cut in, "You're only older than me by 20 minutes!"

"That's more than enough."

I almost forgot that siblings did not only have happy moments, but that they bicker too. But you know what? It didn't bother me. It just meant that we went back to being normal brothers again.

Our little quarrel suddenly came to an end when the door bell rung. Roxas went to go answer it. Ven and me listened up. We heard him talking to someone, but I couldn't make out who was the owner of that new voice, but it sounded kinda familiar. Who could it be?

There weren't that much people from Twilight Town I knew as of yet.

Apart from my family there was only Roxas' friend Axel I have really talked to. I liked the redhead, he was funny. Unfortunately, it wasn't him at the door or we could have talked some more. I don't think Ven would have been that thrilled to see him again.

But they just had a bad start. And Ventus isn't that bad, he just has a very low tolerance level for people who annoy him. I think he got that from dad.

But going back to the situation at hand: Who was at the door?

My question was soon answered when Roxas walked in again.

"Make it quick, Terra. I don't have all day."

It was the tall brunette from yesterday. What did he want? Roxas sounded a little bit annoyed. And certainly Ven _looked_ annoyed. But why did he care? Oh yeah, he had a bad start with him as well. I could see it on his face the instant Terra walked in.

"What the hell is he doing here?" he pointed at the brunette.

Said boy looked at him with a frown, which then turned into a smirk.

"You don't have to be that rude, Ven!" I said to my brother, but he didn't even look at me. He was too busy glaring at Terra. The brunette seemed rather amused, though. Roxas and me were watching the two silently.

"I could tell you to stop looking at me, but I admit it's hard to avert your eyes when someone as sexy as me is standing in front of you," the brunette said with an overly confident grin on his face.

He caught Ven totally off guard. My brother blushed a little and didn't know what to say. But it didn't take long for him to regain his composure. We're talking about Ven after all.

"I've never seen such a conceited bastard like you! I only want to know why you're here."

"Maybe, I only wanted to visit Roxas. Or maybe I wanted to visit _you_?" Terra said obviously amused with the situation.

But Ven would have none of it. "If it looks like I give a damn about your nonsense, please tell me. I don't want to give off the wrong impression."

Contrary to what Ven was intending with his remark, Terra wasn't taken aback. Instead he smiled. A genuinely smile.

"I like you." That was what he said. Nothing more. And I think he meant it.

Ven looked away blushing and didn't know what to say. It was cute to see our protective brother off guard. He knows what to say to people who 'molest' us, but when he is the one being in center of attention he is absolutely lost.

I think he wanted to say something back, but couldn't find words. He didn't need to say anything though because my other brother decided to end this awkward conversation. He seemed to be more annoyed with the situation than he was at the beginning. Speaking of protective brothers…

"Terra, instead of flirting with my brother, you could do what you came here to do. I already said that I don't have all day."

Terra finally looked at Roxas and sighed. "Fine, but I'll be gone faster if you help me out."

"With what?" I asked confused. Why was he here anyway? Ven looked up as well. His cheeks were still reddened a little bit. But he chose to not say a thing for once.

"I need to find Riku's cell phone. He must have lost it when we were here yesterday night," the taller man sighed scratching his head. He seemed not that thrilled about the situation.

Riku. I knew exactly who that was. It was the tall silver haired boy from the day before. The one Rox doesn't like apparently. I don't know why but when I think about him I feel all warm inside. This is extremely weird if you consider that I only met him one time and that this meeting only lasted for about 15 minutes. But Ven always told me that I made friends too quickly. But he is one to talk. He himself can befriend people very quickly…or be hostile to people really fast. Depends on the situation.

"Why does this Riku not get it himself?" Ven asked. A good question, I wondered about that myself.

Terra sighed again and averted his gaze to Roxas, whose mood got worse by minute.

"Well, he said and I quote 'There's no way I'm going to that devil's hell hole'." He pointed at my brother. "Very childish if you ask me."

Ventus frowned. "But he was here yesterday, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, but back then he was drunk. When Roxas and Riku get really drunk they actually can talk to each other like normal people, but when there is no alcohol in their systems they turn to immature little brats. It's very annoying."

"If it's that annoying, why did you agree to get it for him in the first place?" Roxas said pissed off.

Terra just shrugged. "I was on my way to Aqua, your house is near to hers and he paid me 20 bucks."

20 bucks, just for retrieving a cell phone? I would have done that too.

"So let's find that damn phone, already!" We all looked at Ven, who already was walking into the kitchen and started searching on the ground.

"Hm, you're friendlier than I thought you were," Terra said.

"The faster we find it, the faster you can leave."

He may have said that this was the reason, a part of it was definitely, but Ven is a friendly and helpful person. If someone needs help, Ventus is there to help. I'm like that too, but Ven said that I go over the top with it. And that would be the point where he would start giving me a lecture about the eye patch guy. Seriously, you make one mistake and you never hear the end of it. I know now that it wouldn't have been a good idea to go with that guy. But try telling my brother that…

So, we all started to look for this phone. And with all I mean Terra, Ven and me. Roxas wasn't making the slightest efforts to help us. Terra didn't seem surprised at all and Ven didn't bother with it because he was too eager to find the phone. So we first looked in the kitchen because it was where they had been yesterday. When we didn't find it there we went for the living room.

And didn't find it there either.

"Why aren't you just calling his number, so that it'll ring," Roxas suggested, while sitting on the couch and watching TV. He had gotten himself an apple from the kitchen and was currently busy with peeling it with a kitchen knife.

"I would, but Riku said it's off, so there's no use," Terra said.

"Are you even sure he lost it here?" Ven asked standing up from the ground. "He could have lost it somewhere else."

"Let's hope he didn't. If he lost it on the streets, I don't think he will get it back."

Roxas chuckled at that, like the thought of Riku never seeing his cell phone again amused him. Terra frowned at him. He probably wanted to tell him something, but he never got the chance for that because in that moment I found what we had been looking for the whole time.

"I found it!" I exclaimed loudly and held the cell phone up for everybody to see. "It had been under the couch." I handed it over to Terra.

"Yep, that's his," and put it in his pocket. "Now I'm 20 bucks richer. Thanks you too." He looked at me, then at Ven.

The latter replied with a smile, "I'm a nice person, so let me help you out a bit more. Which way did you come in?"

Terra only laughed at that. "I think we will become good friends."

"Damn, no!"

In case you're wondering this wasn't Ven's answer to Terra's remark. What Ventus wanted to say we'll never know. It had been Roxas' loud exclamation because he had sliced his finger instead of slicing his apple. And now it was bleeding. Ven and me rushed to his side to look at it. It wasn't such a deep cut, but it was bleeding much.

"Wait I'll get the first aid kit." Ventus stood up, but Terra had already got it and walked towards Roxas.

"Let me see." You wouldn't believe it, but he actually was very gentle. Terra may give off the impression of a tough guy, but he was nice. It wasn't only me who realized it that day. While Terra treated Roxas' wound Ven stared at the brunette. What exactly my brother thought I don't know, but he wasn't looking hostile. It was something different.

"I'm done. Does it still hurt?" Terra asked my brother.

"Of course it still hurts! Pain doesn't go away that easily… But thanks anyway."

Terra sighed. "Roxas has anybody ever told you that you are very rude?"

"Of course he's rude. Roxas and rude can only be in the same sentence when the word 'is' stands between them. On top of that I think 'Rude' is his second name."

We all looked into the direction of the intruder. Leaning on the door frame was none other than Axel.

"Axel what are you doing here?" Roxas asked smiling. "You said you didn't want to come over."

"Well I got bored and strolled around the village. When I passed Cid's bar I saw your father helping him out. And then I thought that now would be a good time to come visit you. You know, because I got bored and so."

Roxas just shot him a knowing glance, which Axel ignored.

"But I wasn't expecting that you already had another visitor." He looked at Terra. And then his gaze wandered to Terra's hand which still held that of Roxas. It seemed to bother him and when Terra realized it he let go. I don't think Roxas realized Terra's and Axel's quick exchange of glances, but I did. Believe it or not I'm not that naïve everybody thinks I am… Okay maybe a little, but in this moment I saw something Roxas didn't.

"I was about to go. I only came to get Riku's cell phone, which he lost yesterday," Terra explained and stood up ready to go. He passed past Axel before he once again turned around.

"You never told me you're names, by the way."

"Oh, my name's Sora," I answered immediately. Then I pointed at my brother. "And that's Ventus."

"Goodbye then, Sora," he said. "Goodbye _Ven_." He then turned around, not waiting for Ven's reaction to his nickname.

"I'll call you Roxas," Was the last thing he said before he left.

Axel looked after him. He had a strange expression on his face after Terra said his last words. He only snapped out of it when Roxas addressed him.

"Axel, how the hell did you get in here? Did you come in from the window again?"

"No, for once I used the door, which I have to tell you was open. Not very responsible from you." He shook his head while saying that.

"Oh, shut up Axel," Roxas said.

Axel came and sat next to Roxas on the couch. "Roxas, what would you do without me? You can't even close doors yourself. And apparently you can't even cut an apple." He pointed at aforementioned fruit. Roxas glared at him.

"Says the person, who sets a kitchen on fire by only entering it."

"Hey that happened only one time! Stop bringing it up already." Roxas laughed. His mood had gotten better the moment Axel had entered the house. That's what I think, anyway.

* * *

What do you think? I hope I can upload the betad version, soon. :)


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